John F. Kennedy famously said, “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for, ask what you can do for your country.” And with more than 36,000 volunteer hours in Grayson County alone, Sherman’s Harold Wright lived that sentiment.

Grayson County Commissioners honored Wright Tuesday for his decades of volunteering at local social services organizations.

Paula Cawthon, representing Texoma Community Center, said Wright has been one of their most devoted volunteers.

“Harold was the backbone,” she said. “He is such a wonderful man. I just want to liken him to George Bailey from ‘A Wonderful Life.’ What would Grayson County be without Harold Wright?”

Wright’s health is such that he could not be present Tuesday, Grayson County Judge Bill Magers said. Instead, his son, Scott Wright, accepted the proclamation for him.

“I asked daddy if he wanted me to say anything and he said, ‘Well, you say thank you,’” Scott Wright said. “He said thank you for a lot of good relationships and a lot of good memories.”

Grayson County Commissioner David Whitlock called Harold Wright a “good man.”

The proclamation noted that Wright was born in a community called Friendship and at the age of 6, he watched a neighbor’s house burn. At that point, Harold told his family, “People need help” and his mission in life had arrived.

On March 3, 1962, Harold Wright married Hazel and they had one son together and raised Hazel’s three other children. They were married 49 years when Hazel, also a local volunteer, died in August 2011.

Harold Wright was appointed to the Texas Sliver Hair Legislature and served as Sergeant at Arms. He racked up those volunteer hours with Grayson County Holiday Lights, Grayson County Stock Show, Grayson County AARP, Grayson County Fair Board, Sherman Senior Citizens Center, Grayson Home Hospice, Foster Grandparent Advisory Board, 211 Texoma Area Information & Referral Board, Texoma Community Center Volunteer Services Council and Grayson County 4-H.

The Texoma Council of Governments has also honored Harold Wright with a lifetime achievement award for all of his years of service with so many agencies.

Former Grayson County Commissioner Johnny Waldrip took one more oath in the commissioners courtroom Tuesday. Waldrip, who served as commissioner for Precinct 1 from 2001 to 2012, will now serve as a member of the Texas Silver- Haired Legislature.

Though Waldrip didn’t say much during Tuesday’s meeting, on Monday he said he just felt it was time for him to return to public service. Joe Henderson, who serves as deputy pro tem of TSL, teased that they had to wait a while to ask Waldrip to serve because his hair lacked any silver.

Henderson and Waldrip serve as part of the Texoma chapter of the TSL. Henderson introduced William Carey of Bonham, who also serves the Texoma chapter that covers Fannin, Grayson and Cooke counties. Ken Atterbury of Whitesboro and Rob Tyler of Gainesville round out that group.

“With the addition of Johnny as the fifth representative, that makes Texoma very powerful,” Henderson said. “It puts us on a scale with Houston, Dallas and San Antonio as far as having representation.”

He said the next session will be a training session in October during which new members like Waldrip will learn what the TSL does. Henderson explained the group works together to propose legislation that is then passed on to the Texas Legislature. That legislation mostly deals with ways to make life better for senior citizens. Henderson said many people define the term senior citizens differently, but for the TSL, it is defined as 60 years and older.

“One of the resolutions that was adopted this year that seniors were very much in favor of but younger people were against was the cellphone/texting issue,” Henderson said of the recent ban on texting while driving.

He added that the group typically develops from 70 to 90 issues that they want to put forward for the legislature to consider but that they really push for their top 10 issues. So, he said, getting into that top 10 is a really big deal and makes for a lot of lively debate.

Grayson County Commissioner Bart Lawrence said if the goal was for the group to be heard more, then adding Waldrip to the team was sure to get that done.

This afternoon, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos recognized Gunter Elementary School as 1 of 342 schools named National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2017. The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

GES Principal, Dara Arrington, shared that “The philosophy of GES is ‘all in.’ The staff does whatever it takes to make each child successful academically, emotionally, physically and socially. Whether that means coming in early to help with morning tutoring, staying late to help with Homework Club and the After-School Care program or bringing food to fill weekend backpacks for families in need – they help in every way they can.”

GISD Superintendent, Dr. Jill Siler, added that “the National Blue Ribbon program is the most prestigious academic honor a school can earn. While we are earning this award in 2017, this is a result of years and years of hard work by our teachers and students and continued high expectations from our entire school community.”

A second runway at North Texas Regional Airport — Perrin Field could soon be opened.

Grayson County Judge Bill Magers said opening the second, shorter runway could leave more time for bigger planes to use the one that is currently open.

Magers said the parallel runway at NTRA has been closed, as far as he knows, since the 1970s. He said it was cracked and needed to be repaired.

“They have cleaned the cracks and sealed the cracks,” Magers said referring to crews from county commissioner precincts.

He said 3,500 feet of the additional runway should be open for traffic sometime between the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. In July, Stephen Alexander, a partner with Texas Aviation Partners, said the portion of runway was chosen due to its condition and the relative ease of bringing it up to usable condition.

The need for additional runway space stems from training flight operations conducted by US Aviation. Alexander said the flight school conducts daily operations using prop-driven aircraft at the airport with regular takeoff and touchdowns on the runway. This traffic could make it difficult at times for larger, jet-powered aircraft to land, he said.

By separating the traffic, Alexander said the airport could alleviate any safety issues related to the two types of aircraft operating in the same space. As an analogy, Alexander compared the proposed layout as a four-lane highway, where as the airport now is close to a two-lane roadway.

“US Aviation can then move some of their smaller planes over to that runway to allow for more commercial traffic (on the primary runway),” Magers said.

In a phone call on Thursday, NTRA Director Sarah Hinton said the parallel runway has been closed since the government closed the base back in 1971.

Hinton said shifting the slower moving traffic from the main runway will open it up for larger jets and thus play a role in the future development of the airport. She said the folks in the control tower will be in charge of making decisions about who will be moved to the parallel runway and when.

The parallel runway, Hinton said, will only be open during the day because it doesn’t have any lights or automated equipment on it.

The repairs to the parallel runway, she said, cost around $100,000 out of the last fiscal budget and are expected to cost less than $100,000 in the current budget. That money, she said, came from the funds the state gives the airport to run.

Grayson County Commissioners canvassed the recent Constitutional Amendment Election this week. Grayson County Elections Administrator Deana Patterson said the approval makes the results official. All of the amendments passed in Grayson County.

In addition, commissioners received into the minutes an executed resolution for the Texas Department of Transportation Right of Way Agreement for State Highway 289 at CR60/CR70.

Commissioners also approved a request to confirm availability of on-site sewage facilities for Property ID 385284 on FM 902 and the Tax Assessor Collector’s monthly report.

County leaders tabled a request to consider and take possible action for Grayson County to participate in a proposed city of Sherman Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 7. They also tabled a request to discuss and take action to appoint a county representative to the TIRZ No. 7 Board. Grayson County Judge Bill Magers said he requested that the items be tabled, noting that he thought they had to be done this week, but that is not the case.

Commissioners then approved a memorandum of understanding with the Howe Police Department for use of the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office gun range. GCSO Chief Deputy Tony Bennie said the Howe PD has agreed to abide by all of the rules that Grayson County officers must abide by while using the range.

As the shopping blitz from Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday came to a halt, local organizations volunteered their time and helped raise money for local causes on what has been called Giving Tuesday.

In honor of the day of charity, the United Way of Grayson County held a fundraiser event Tuesday evening to raise money for local nonprofits and charitable causes. The event, called Growth in Action, brought together representatives from the United Way board, area chambers of commerce, the North Texas Young Professional and Denison Young Professionals organizations in a social media fundraising campaign.

“Giving Tuesday really is a global movement that supports charities,” UWGC Community Investment Director Stephanie Chandler said before Tuesday’s event. “It allows people to give back to our nonprofits and their communities in a new way.”

Giving Tuesday, often stylized using the hastag #GivingTuesday and promoted on social media, started in 2012 as an international movement aimed at creating a day of giving following the post-Thanksgiving shopping rush. The first day was promoted and organized by the United Nations Foundation.

This is the first year that the United Way of Grayson County has participated in Giving Tuesday.

For Tuesday’s fundraiser, the about 50 or so people in attendance were challenged to see how much money could be raised in just one hour by texting friends and family members and urging them to donate. UWGC President David Cortinas asked that every person text at least 5 people.

Chandler said the United Way wanted to raise at least $1,000, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matching any donations over that amount for the night. By 6:30 the organization had already passed its initial goal, with more than $1,100 raised.

Cortinas said Tuesday’s event comes during a difficult time for many nonprofits and many organizations look to make an impact in their communities using a limited pool of funds and resources. In the past, Cortinas said he could raise about $25,000 by visiting one local business. However, those days have since passed, he said.

“It takes more and more resources to get the job done, but how do you get those resources in such a competitive market,” he said.

Among those in attendance Tuesday was Grayson County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 3 Rita Noel, who serves as co-chairwoman of the current United Way fundraising campaign. Noel said she sent her request to several friends and family, including Grayson County Judge Bill Magers.

“You do have to take a little bit of money and give it to those in need,” she said, as she completed her donation on her cellphone. “I like giving, especially with the United Way because I know it will give it to a good cause.”

In addition to Tuesday’s fundraiser, Chandler said UWGC also helped coordinate several smaller groups who helped out at different nonprofits throughout the area. Among these groups were about eight representatives from Four Rivers Outreach in Sherman.

Four Rivers Executive Director Bob Rhoden, who was also in attendance Tuesday night, said seven members of the outreach’s substance abuse program went through a team-building exercise with the United Way and then went to fill emergency relief bags for the American Red Cross.

“Through the team building exercises, our guys learned about the ‘Power of U’ and what the United Way does,” he said, referring to one of the organization’s slogans.

In total, the small team filled about 250 relief bags, Rhoden said. Through these efforts, the volunteers wanted to give back to those who give to Four Rivers, and make the services they receive possible, Rhoden said.

Chandler said those who want to donate to the United Way can do so by texting UWGC to 313131 anytime.

The commissioners approved a joint resolution with the Democratic Party of Grayson County and the Republican Party of Grayson County to hold the primary election on March 6 and the runoff, if needed, on May 22.

“I’ve met with both party chairs and they do desire to hold a joint primary election in Grayson County for March 2018 and a runoff in May, if required,” County Election Administrator Deana Patterson said.

The resolution was approved unanimously, as was a related item on early voting, after Commissioner Jeff Whitmire asked about minor parties participating in the primary.

“They elect through convention instead of primary election,” Patterson said, noting the Libertarian and Green parties have ballot access in Texas. “Independent candidates have ballot access in November. They have to file an intent to run during the same filing period as primary candidates, but they wouldn’t file their final application until August.”

As the seats occupied by commissioners David Whitlock and Bart Lawrence are up for election next year along with County Judge Bill Magers, all of whom are seeking re-election next year, Magers said the joint resolution was of great interest to several members of the Commissioners Court.

“Thank you, in all seriousness, for that civics lesson because I can promise you a lot of folks don’t know that,” Magers said.

The early voting locations and times were only approved for the primary election in March.

“We are proposing the five early voting locations that we typically use in Grayson County,” Patterson said of the county election administration office, sub-courthouse in Denison, Pottsboro ISD admin building, Whitesboro City Hall and Grayson College campus in Van Alstyne. “Early voting doesn’t start until a Tuesday, that’s mandated by the state because of the federal Presidents Day holiday. So it’ll start on Tuesday, Feb. 20 and will run through Friday, March 2.”

The hours for early voting at those locations will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The final day to register to vote for the March 6 election will be Feb. 5 and the final day to submit an application to vote by mail will be Feb. 23.

In other business, commissioners also approved an interlocal agreement to participate in the Department of Public Safety General Store. Grayson County Purchasing Agent Jeff Schneider explained the store would be used to purchase items such as breathalyzer equipment, items to draw blood, kits for checking for firearm discharge residue and more.

“The real benefit to it, besides it being very cost effective would be that you make sure the products we are using for our law enforcement would stand the test of a defense lawyer saying that this product was authorized and certified for this particular use in the chain of custody,” Schneider said.

The Grayson County Commissioners Court unanimously agreed to return ownership of the Sherman Independent School District’s old administration building on Tuesday, allowing the district and its chosen developer to move forward on a nearly two-year-old project which aims to convert the facility into affordable housing for low-income seniors.

The $11.5 million project materialized in early 2016 and centers on the conversion of the district’s old administration building, located at 120 West King Street, into a housing complex for nearly 6 dozen seniors who meet specific income requirements. The project stalled last year when developer Sari and Company determined that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs likely wouldn’t award the tax credits sought for the project.

“That deal did not come to fruition last year, but we’re back on the drawing board again this year,” Grayson County Judge Bill Magers said.

David Baca, who has been identified as a possible architect for the project, said the return to the drawing board was precipitated by favorable changes to the state’s point-based scoring system that determines which projects will get tax credits. Baca said those changes, coupled with a new designation for the old administration building, convinced the developers to ready the project once again and submit it for tax credit consideration in March 2018

“Some of the points that we can get are due to the fact that it’s a historic structure,” Baca said. “They did a historical analysis on it last year and got that report completed, so they feel very good about their scoring this year.”

But before Sherman ISD and its developer could move the project along any further, Grayson County Commissioners first had to consider returning the property deed to the district.

“According to the Texas Local Government Code, the county or whoever we donate that to can only use it for governmental purposes,” Sherman ISD Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Security Tyson Bennett said of the property. “So once it’s either not being used or it’s purported to sell, then it has to revert back to the school district to sell the property. Basically, only the school district can sell it.”

The commissioners discussed the matter in executive session before ultimately returning ownership to the district in a public vote.

“From the county’s perspective, we want to be good neighbors,” Magers said. “We want to help SISD and the city of Sherman. If we can repurpose that building it’s a win for everyone. There’s no downside to the taxpayers of Grayson County, there’s no downside to the county.”

The 63,000-square-foot Sherman ISD facility was built in 1916 and served as a high school and middle school before becoming the district’s administration building. The district moved into its current administrative headquarters on Loy Lake Road in 2011 and donated the property that year to Grayson County in exchange for use of the county’s voting machines and for comped parking lot improvements at Sherman High School.

Magers said the affordable housing project would bring Grayson County seniors a much-needed option as they look for residency in a market where property values and rent are on the rise. Bennett added that the project would also attract more traffic to the Downtown Sherman area, increase the city’s tax roll and infuse the district itself with some capital.

“You add those four together and you’ve got good reason for the project and good benefit to our community,” Bennett said.

Baca said developers are set to submit their tax credit application to the state in early March 2018 and awarded projects will be announced in either July or August.